A friend noticed the brightly wrapped packages under our Christmas tree.  “You put the presents out before Christmas?”  I responded with “Of course, don’t you?”  There seems to be little consensus on the details of how one should celebrate the holidays. (more…)

I remember once being amused by an advertisement campaign for “Back to School” sales using the popular Christmas song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”  Oh yeah, I have definitely had that feeling. (more…)

I have a property for sale on the seacoast of New Hampshire and it’s supposed to be sold by now . . . at least, according to my own personal time table.  We’ve done all the right things:  fixed up the 220 year old house, made cosmetic improvements, hired a cracker-jack real estate agent, marketed and publicized. (more…)

On any given evening, I might have 5 kids, 3 kids, 2 kids, or no kids sleeping in my home.  That’s how it is to live in our blended family.  Each of these four potential arrangements has such a different energy, such a unique dynamic that it’s almost like having four separate homes in one. (more…)

I was reading a bedtime story to my six year old stepson, the beloved tale “Hansel and Gretel”.  I casually read “And then the stepmother sent the children into the deepest part of the forest to be rid of them.”  Yikes!  This isn’t going to help my cause.  Cinderella’s and Snow White’s stepmoms didn’t exactly win stepmother of the year either.  Sure they were evil, but being a stepmother is not for the faint of heart. (more…)